Mall theater says goodbye film, hello to digital

Westgate Mall theater to make switch this spring

Premiere Westgate Mall Cinema 6 director Yvette Angel runs one of the six 35-mm film projectors in the projection booth. Premiere Cinema Corp. plans to convert the theater's six screens from film to digital this spring.

Michael Schumacher / Amarillo Globe-News Projects roll through the large spools of 35 mm film in the Premiere Cinema 6 projection booth Wednesday, March 13, 2013. Premiere Cinema will be replacing the old 35mm projectors with new, state-of-the-art digital projects.

Michael Schumacher / Amarillo Globe-News Premiere Cinema 6 director Yvette Angel runs the one of the six, 35mm, film projects in the projection booth at the Mall's theater Wednesday, March 13, 2013. Premiere Cinema will be replacing the old 35mm projectors with new, state-of-the-art digital projects.

Michael Schumacher / Amarillo Globe-News Projects roll through the large spools of 35 mm film in the Premiere Cinema 6 projection booth Wednesday, March 13, 2013. Premiere Cinema will be replacing the old 35mm projectors with new, state-of-the-art digital projects.

Michael Schumacher / Amarillo Globe-News Projects roll through the large spools of 35 mm film in the Premiere Cinema 6 projection booth Wednesday, March 13, 2013. Premiere Cinema will be replacing the old 35mm projectors with new, state-of-the-art digital projects.

The Amarillo location is one of few sites remaining for Premiere — a 22-theater chain based in Big Spring — to convert, Moore said.

During the project, Premiere also will add the capability to show 3-D movies on at least two screens here, he said.

Moore said the conversion will not affect ticket prices for the 2-D films shown by the “dollar theater,” the term for moviehouses that show second-run films at discount prices. Premiere at Westgate’s ticket price is $2, according to its website. The company charges $5 for independent features.

Premiere will, however, add a fee for glasses for 3-D movie patrons, a practice common at other locations, Moore said.

Digital projection has been characterized as the biggest transformation to hit the film industry since talkies.

By last week, more than 68 percent of theaters had made the technology switch, with 33,618 of 39,868 screens nationwide going digital, said Patrick Corcoran, a spokesman for the National Association of Theater Owners.

Conversion costs now average $70,000 per screen, he said.

But when the industry transformation first began about 15 years ago, the cost was more than double, Corcoran said.

“It was initially right around the time of ‘Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,’” Moore said. “George Lucas wanted it to be projected only in digital.”

Because the major benefit of the change goes to theaters, the association fought for virtual print fees, he said.

Studios pay the subsidy to theaters each time they show digital films, helping theaters recoup the cost of digital projection equipment, Corcoran said.

In addition, format standards were adopted to ensure “someone who invested a lot of money in projectors would know they would still be usable 10 years down the line,” he said.

The association also started a buying group to give smaller theaters the ability to band together to get better equipment prices, Corcoran said.

Tascosa Drive-In at 1999 Dumas Drive recently reopened with its new digital projector.

Yet, Moore said, few dollar theaters are going digital.

“Most of them are going to close, probably,” Moore said. “I’ve got a six-plex in Hereford, and I don’t know what I’m going to do there. We’d love to go digital in Hereford. It just costs a lot of money, and it would take years and years to even think about getting it back.

“The (Amarillo) market is big enough to support the investment.”

Premiere plowed money into upgrading sound systems, remodeling restrooms, installing new drapes and other renovations at its Amarillo location last year. Moore declined to specify the costs of those improvements or the upcoming digital conversion.

Theater-goers should see little interruption from the digital change. A screen needs only to be out of commission for a day or less, Moore said.

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